As a child in the ‘70s and ‘80s, I grew up with a host of adverts for alcohol, tobacco and plenty of other things which are banned today. Amid the fierce competition, the ones that stick in the memory to this day are those that made me laugh.

I will always remember comedian Russ Abbot’s effort for Castella Classic cigars, which sees him fishing by a lake and the fish are not biting. He plays a Des O’Connor record and uses his fishing rod to lower a speaker into the water, at which point the fish leap into his net as he relaxes with a Castella Classic cigar and other luckless anglers look on in disbelief.

Fans of Des, don’t worry … if you watch to the end of the link above, Des gets his own back when they go clay pigeon shooting!

Then there were the Hamlet cigar adverts, which saw protagonists relax and enjoy their cigar while disaster unfolded around them. There was Rab C Nesbitt star Gregor Fisher in the photo booth sketch in which he repeatedly failed to get a decent pic, as well as the motorcycle side car which separates from the bike and all the helpless passenger can do is light a Hamlet as he hurtles down a side road towards a river, reassured that “Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet!”

While many people today will be familiar with Peter Kay’s series of comedy ads for John Smith’s bitter, which included the famous ‘Ave it!’ football practice and ‘top bombing’ with the comedian as an Olympic diver, the brand’s adverts were also leading the way in the ‘80s. Featuring Chas ‘n’ Dave-style soundtracks, there was the Mate Called Smith holiday, rugby and marathon ads.

There were too many ads to remember all the details after more than 40 years, but I have positive opinions of John Smiths and Hamlet from those adverts, even though I don’t like bitter and I don’t smoke.

Some brands are even going out of their way to get a viral laugh, with social media managers comedically trolling rivals and even their own customers.

When Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X, Aldi trolled the Tesla boss by suggesting a rebrand of its own. It said: 'Now launching....AldX, (It's the same as Aldi we just fancied a change)'.

With the threat of legal action hanging over it, Aldi also had fun trolling Marks & Spencer over the Colin the Caterpillar vs Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake saga. Whoever won in court, Aldi definitely triumphed in the social media battle!

When then Twitter user Chilly P took to the platform to complain to Royal Mail that hadn’t received any card for Valentine’s Day, a witty Royal Mail social media manager replied: "Sorry to hear that, when exactly did your mum post them and what service was used?? ;-D”. Very funny, but ouch!

For those of us not blessed with the comedy aptitude of the aforementioned, showing the lighter or human side of a business can also endear it to customers. Show people you aren’t perfect, or give them an insight into what goes on behind the scenes so they understand more about your business and the people behind it.

You can only have so many discounts and special offers to bring in new business, and for companies selling high-value items such as cars, furniture, and electronics, or even service providers such as mortgages, insurance and loans, it may years before customers return.

I was reminded of this by a service-industry client this week who said: “We’re only relevant to each client for 10 minutes a year for renewals, but we have to make sure we’re always in the background so they think of us next time and recommend us if anyone asks.”

Whatever approach a company takes, it’s all about giving customers and potential customers a positive feeling about a brand so that when the time comes to spend money, they choose a business they feel they know and trust.

And remember, laughter goes a long way!